


Purple Rain

by gay_for_god



Category: DCU
Genre: Angst, Complicated Relationships, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25043383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay_for_god/pseuds/gay_for_god
Summary: "It was always going to be this.They stood a few feet apart, keeping the distance that had always been, too scared to truly challenge the expected.Why did it always come back to this?"Not connected to any particular storyline; I was just listening to Purple Rain and started writing.
Relationships: Joker (DCU) & Bruce Wayne, Joker (DCU)/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	Purple Rain

_It was always going to be this._

They stood a few feet apart, keeping the distance that had always been, too scared to truly challenge the expected. 

_Why did it always come back to this?_

“I love you.”

J. stood in front of him, drenched in the rain. His mascara had run down his cheeks, and his lipstick was terribly smeared. He was a mess, no longer smiling. He stared blankly at Bruce, seemingly wanting to say more but not knowing what. They let the space between them hold tight onto the air washed by the dark clouds, hold onto everything they knew was there that couldn’t be spoken for fear that it would shatter the world around them. 

_I love you, too._

Bruce wanted so badly to say it back, but he didn’t know how. J. knew that nothing would happen. He would be earnest and honest, and Bruce would leave him. Again. Nothing could be between them. 

_So why was there something?_

Bruce carefully took a step towards him, a man he knew almost as well as himself. A man with extraordinary capabilities and oddities about him. A man with a price on his head and the wildest imagination inside it. A man whom Bruce chased relentlessly, yet never dared to touch. Was it J.’s ability to kill that scared him? Or was it the feelings that always accompanied getting close to him?

“J., I…”

J. suddenly looked up at him, expecting or maybe hoping for some words to cling on to. Something to think about late in the night, when the city slept. He knew he’d clutch Bruce’s words close on a rooftop somewhere before dawn, waiting for the sunrise but never seeing it. He never got the chance to. 

Bruce closed the distance between them, and J. could smell the cinnamon in the cologne he always wore. He had stolen a bottle of it before, but it wasn’t the same. It didn’t have the same dizzying effect as when Bruce wore it. He studied Bruce’s furrowed brows, his tight lips, his strong cheekbones, trying to figure out what it was he wanted to say. Instead of speaking, however, Bruce simply lifted his hand in offering. J. took it. 

Bruce laid his free hand delicately on J.’s hips, as if afraid he might break him, and J. placed his hand on Bruce’s chest. Bruce took a shaky step, beginning a gentle waltz. J. quickly followed suit, grasping Bruce’s hand tighter. He’d never been held like this, touched so softly and carefully. At any moment he might lose him. J. barely registered a tear roll down his cheek before Bruce stopped and wiped it away. They stood together, now much closer than before. The barrier had been broken, the safety net abolished. There was no room for facade any longer. 

J. leant towards him nervously and touched his own lips to Bruce’s. Bruce hesitated for a moment before kissing him back as carefully as he could. J. felt a chill go down his spine as he cupped Bruce’s face, scared that he might lose him. They both knew it couldn't last; sooner or later they would have to part and pretend like this never happened. Bruce always wondered what it would be like to be able to walk down the street with J., their hands intertwined. What it would be like to wake up with him in his arms as the sun streamed through the blinds. J. always looked so pretty in his mind, hair curly against the pillow and arms, pale and bony, thrown around Bruce. Bruce felt J's tongue ever-so-gently run over his bottom lip, and Bruce gave a small bite in response. J. sighed and pressed into Bruce, and Bruce held him tighter. How lovely J. felt in his arms, how pretty he looked in the rain. Each wanted nothing more than the other, but it had always laid unspoken in the space between them. Now, something had changed. Something wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. 

Bruce pulled back, looking into those electric eyes of his. J.'s hand lingered on his face, unwilling to let go of the moment they had. 

"I love you, too," Bruce whispered.


End file.
